Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

RL Ribbon Driver

In Person: The stand-out under $80 warm weather shoe

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Polo Ralph Lauren Terry Ribbon Driver – $69.20 w/ TWENTY & BOXES ($99)

*Code is good for 20% off site wide with a few exceptions at Piperlime.  Free shipping and free returns through them.  Code expires today.  And yes, these were going for 25% off not that long ago.
UPDATE:  Looks like you can stack a couple of codes here.  TWENTY takes 20% off, and BOXES takes an additional $10 off a purchase over $50.  Hat tip to Colin M for pointing that out in the comments.

More than a few of us need another pair of shoes like we need another hole in our heads.  But when it comes to warm weather, there’s some need for a pair petween lace-ups and classic American sneakers.  Some guys swear by boat shoes.  Some guys flip rules-snobs the bird and wear sandals.  Some wear penny loafers.  And then there’s these:

RL’s stand out driver.  Two colors at Piperlime.  A third at RL.  D-Rings are a brushed brass tone.

  • Do they play off the bright colors trend thing? – Yes
  • Yet at the same time do they keep it pretty subtle? – Yes
  • Are they comfortable? – Yes
  • Do they look slimmer compared to boat shoes and penny loafers? – Yes
  • Can they be worn casually, as well as dressed up with a light blazer? – Yes
  • Is the leather surprisingly supple for an under $100 shoe? – Yes
  • Are there any visible logos? – Unfortunately, yes… the back heel (below)
  • Do they claim to be “Crafted in Italy” like the Roderick Calf Driver originally did? – No.  They’re “imported.”  Made in China to be exact.  The Roderick Calf Driver now says “imported” too.  RL has been doing that lately.

At least it’s a blue on grey, so it doesn’t stand out too much from five or six feet up…

Comments

  4. Very comfortable, but very snug. I’d recommend going 1/2 to a full size up. I ordered these last week from RL and had to exchange them. Very flexible sole, and quite comfortable, with or without socks.

  5. The heel logo isn’t that bad. I love the ribbon on top. Unfortunately, if I bought another pair of pants right now I think a black hole would form under my shoe rack. 

  7. For under $100 those are great… unfortunately I have 2 pairs of driving loafers already…. love the ribbon.

  10. The heel is pretty bad, but I’m not really down with the ribbon, either.  It looks out of place and like they’re trying too hard to be different.  It might work on a boat shoe style, but not drivers.

  11. I’m going to have to chime in and say I wouldn’t wear these even if they were free. To each their own, I suppose – I guess ‘driving loafers’ indicates that i would wear them whilst driving… so as long as they are comfy and staying hidden under the dash, I am cool with them.

  12. Not sure why everyone is bagging this bc of the logo.  99% of the time, no one would even see the “Polo” stamped on the back…

  14. The logo in the back, not an issue. get a hot knife and melt it. Besides, if someone notices it, it’s prolly gonna be a woman, and if she’s looking at your shoes, she’s prolly also looking at your bum. I hope you got a good looking bum, cause then she won’t give a shit about the logo. My issue is, is the ribbon just too bold? As a 40yrold, i wonder if i’m dressing TOO young with those. Then there are also the under $40 sperry topsider ripoffs from Target/Merona ones I’m eyeing…

  15. And Joe, if you have those in your possession, could you do a shot with someone wearing them? Just a pants/shoes shot would be great…

  18. they were too long for me, great fit in the heel and mid-foot, but at least an inch past the toe.  defitnely narrow.

  20. The heel seems to bother people. Most driving shoes are like that, with the heel coming way up the back. I have a pair of driving shoes, so I’m used to that look. It’s that awful blue & red ribbon on top that makes it a deal-breaker for me. It screams trying too hard. Plus it makes it look like some sort of weird Gucci knock-off.

  23. I’ve liked these ever since the first time they were mentioned as an after-thought in another post. I’m not the biggest fan of driving loafer heels, but the logo on the back doesn’t seem any worse than any other driving loafers out there. And the rest of the shoe is nice enough that I would probably let it slide. However, I’ve recently aquired to traditional moc toe loafers (brown and navy) so it’s difficult to justify another pair. Had I not bought them, these would probably be on deck.

  25. Correct, and also just to add an element of comfort for longer journeys. Any one w/o cruise control can probably attest to the blight of heel chafing due to prolonged accelorator pedal depression.

  26. For me it’s not the logo on the heel, it’s just the heel itself.  Can’t see myself wearing them.

  27. Oh, that makes sense. I see the usefulness of it, but I guess it’s just a style I haven’t been exposed to, so it looks a bit odd to me.

  28. I have the black pair, and the rear logo is bright red. Much more visible than the above pic.

  29.  I don’t like the heels of this type of shoe, either.  Don’t feel like you have to.

  30. My god I have never seen a decent shoe ruined so abruptly than that logo pic of the back. 

  31. It would have been in better taste had they placed a small white polo horse emblem on the ends of the ribbons instead of that hideous ‘heelboard.’  Aside from this, the shoe does look great IMO.

  32.  Alan…you and me think alike.  I’ve got an older pair of standard penny loafers that just weren’t doing it for me, and these showed up and… yeah, they’re staying.  But, the other loafers, like I said, were a big “mneh” for me.  So these are strong.  Nice take.  I’m with you on the heel/logo, but for the price?  And damn are they comfy.